The invention relates to a device to be worn by an individual for use in supporting a child or infant to be carried seated on the shoulders of the wearer.
Devices for use in carrying children have hitherto been proposed in a variety of kinds. In one well-known arrangement, the child is arranged to be supported in a sling or harness worn on the back of an adult so that the child is carried papoose fashion. Such an arrangement is, however, suitable only for relatively small children and infants, and, since the weight of the child is located entirely behind the back of the wearer, the load placed on the torso of the wearer is uncomfortable.
Children have also traditionally been carried by adults in so-called piggy-back fashion, namely seated astride the adults shoulders. This normally requires the adult to provide additional rearward support for the child to prevent it falling, and devices have been proposed to provide such support for a child to be carried in this manner, so that the hands of the adult are left free. One such device, for example, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,910 and comprises a backrest means arranged to provide rearward and lateral support for a child seated on the shoulders of an adult, the backrest means being interconnected with bracing means arranged to engage against the back of the adult. Such an arrangement is developed from a framework of the kind worn to support a rucsac or back-pack, and needs to be supported on the torso of the wearer by means of a shoulder harness. Thus the device is not only relatively cumbersome to wear and of relatively complicated and expensive construction, but also is not ideally suited to providing support for the child, since the rearward and lateral support necessary to locate a child whose weight is supported on the adults shoulders differs significantly from that necessary to support the traditional rucsac or back-pack, which comprises a load located behind the back of the adult and to the rear of the shoulders.